A little honest insight about the World Series champion San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014) from a blog that ranked in the Top 100 of MLB.com Fan Blogs of 2012-14

The Top 10 List of Non-Giants Who Should Be on Every Giants Fan’s Christmas Card List: No. 8, Bud Black

Bud Black was the National League manager of the year, and rightly so. He did a great job with the San Diego Padres this season.

More Splash Hits kept waiting all year for the Padres’ carriage to become a pumpkin, and it finally happened between Aug. 26 and Sept. 5, when the Padres went on a 10-game skid.It’s hard to pin the blame for that losing streak on one person, so we’ll stick it on the skipper … Bud Black. On Aug. 25, the Padres led the second-place Giants by 6.5 games. By the time the skid was over, the Padres’ lead was down to one.

The Giants didn’t play particularly well at the start of the Padres’ slump, dropping three of four. Then they won 8 of 11 to share the lead with the Padres.

The Padres didn’t completely fold after that 10-game skid. But they drop 4 of 5 before beating the Giants in back-to-back game and forcing the Giants to clinch the NL West on the final day of the season.

Now, the Giants could have still reached the playoffs with the Padres’ slump. But it would have been as a wild card, not a division winner. So who knows what that would have meant for the Giants’ playoff run.

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